University of Nebraska Lincoln - Cornhusker Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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DEAN H. G. JAMES College of Arts and Sciences f HE College of Liberal Arts aspires to provide a training for students , whieh will create a definite conception of leadership within them. Its «4|| purpose is two-fold. In general it prepares a student to live, and to be more specific it offers courses which are of technical value in the prepara- tion for many of the numerous professions represented by other colleges in the University. The question may be raised as to the kind of leadership implied when the hope is expressed that a liberal education makes for leadership. The qualities which make the leading politician, clubman, or business man are often those which blossom out of a liberal education, no matter how highly trained the particular person may be technically. He may be a product of higher learning in so far as he has been techni- cally or professionally educated, but this does not necessarily imply that he has had a liberal education. To justify itself in society a liberal education must make leading citizens who if true to their responsibilities lead in sympathy with and understand- ing of their fellowmen, in readiness to serve unselfishly their best interests. In contrast to the other colleges of the University which aim primarily to pre- pare students to earn a living, the College of Arts and Sciences prepares students to live, and to be worthy, creditable members of human society irrespective of what their specific calling or occupation may be. To accomplish this a wide variety of courses in all of the fundamental fields of knowledge is offered. It avoids narrow restrictions which would forbid development of each student ' s particular bent. The more specific purpose of the liberal arts education is of course important and should not be overlooked. However, the time spent in an effort to learn how to live prior to an effort to learn how to make a living is particularly valuable.

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.i ASSOCIATE DEAN W. W. BURR College of Agriculture HREE-QUARTERS of a century ago our pioneers braved the prairies because they saw there the opportunity to build for the future. They accepted the challenge of the prairie fires, the drouth, and the grass- hoppers. Those that endured to the end found rewards far beyond their expectations. Today the descendants of those same pioneers are seeking their opportunities. The old frontier has, however, passed. But there is a new frontier as challenging to the young mind of today as any that lured our fathers ever onward. The frontiers today are in chemistry, agronomy, biology, engineering, animal husbandry, rural economics, education, and other lines. We have conquered our old frontiers. We have won our empire. Our problem is now one of development. Intensive competition, such as our fathers never dreamed of, characterizes the development of our prairie empire. The young man or woman of today has just as great an opportunity to prove his or her mettle as ever lured the thousands westward in the early days. The frontier is just a little different, that is all. The opportunity today is one of the mind, rather than of the strong arm. This opportunity for education is for women as well as for men. Two types of instruction are offered by the College of Agriculture — agriculture for men and home economics for women. The opportunities offered by this college are not entirely pro- fessional in nature but have as their basis the elements of a liberal education as well. Six

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■--I t-ii DEAN J. E. LhROSSIGNOL rpr f ■ — Tl College of Business Administration ! HE College of Business Administration is first of all a teaching body, and its chief duty is the training of young men and women for their place and work in the busmess world. The world is large and the opportunity is great, so it IS no wonder that a large number of students are attracted to the college. In the year 1926-27 the enrollment was 85 5. In many respects the curriculum is very similar to that of the Arts College, because of the fact that every business man should have, if possible, a broad, liberal education; but it includes also a wide range of professional studies. Among these are economics, money and banking, insurance, transportation, public finance, business statistics, business cycles, labor problems, accounting, marketing, salesmanship and sales management, advertising, retail store management, factory management, real estate merchandismg, and business law. Graduates usually have no trouble in finding openings in the business world. One is secretary to a United States senator in Washington; another is a director of an important financial firm in London, England; another is secretary of an important building and loan association; another is a certified public accountant — and so on. But of supreme importance to every small business man in Nebraska is the series of studies which the University has made in the various aspects of Nebraska business. These studies include such subjects as: Stock Turnover in Nebraska Retail Stores, Operating Expenses in Retail Grocery Stores in Nebraska, an analysis of Financial Statements in Nebraska General Stores, Operating Expenses of Retail Shoe Stores in Nebraska. The committee on business research, which has charge of the publication of the studies was organized in 1921 and at present has a number of studies on other subjects in the course of preparation. Up to the present time the work of business research has been mainly confined to problems of retail merchandising in Nebraska. The bulletins are freely circulated among Nebraska business men. The fields of business research is very large, so that it offers wonderful opportunities for investigation, the results of which should be highly beneficial to all the business interests of the state. In the bulletin work and in the training of the University student, the College of Business Administration gives considerable attention to the various operating expenses and other items which have an effect on the final returns to the proprietor of a business. The observations of the committee of the college on the matter of accounting methods are that the majority of retail grocers in Nebraska do not have adequate records and many of the merchants, not only in the grocer ' lines, but also in others, ar e not in a position to tell their actual financial condition. II Kiiiht